This was interesting because the grizzled veteran soldier found the prospect of facing a journalist more daunting than any enemy which I am taking as a compliment. And this was the first interview I had conducted via an interpreter…

A TOP Afghan National Army (ANA) officer wants to personally thank parents in Scarborough for sending their troops to fight for his country.

General Moheeden Ghori, who is the commander for Afghanistan’s Helmand province, said: “I want to thank their mother’s who sent their children to Afghanistan.”

British troops from 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) are currently serving there and are helping to train the newly formed ANA with the view of it taking over from coalition forces in future.

The veteran soldier fought alongside Soviet forces against the Mujahideen during the 1970s and 1980s, was trained in Moscow, and was promoted to his present position after the fall of the Taliban.

He said: “You shouldn’t try to compare the ANA with the British Army because the ANA has only been here for the last 19 months and the British Army has been there for the last 350 years.

“We called the Taliban the worst terrorists because they were against human rights. After 9-11 all the world knew that the Afghan people were fighting against the Taliban.”

He described the Taliban regime as “cruel and brutal”. He said: “They were torturing people and killing people. They were destroying schools and killing educated people.”

The general said he was optimistic for Afghanistan’s future. He said: “I hope so. If God is willing. The ANA and I are very happy with the British soldiers.

“I thank them as though they were my children and brothers. We are in one family. There are differences between our cultures but otherwise we are in the same family.”

From The Scarborough Evening News on Tuesday, January 8, 2008.